U.S. Opens Strong at World Poomsae Championships

The U.S. National Poomsae Team put forth a strong effort on Monday during the opening day of the 4th WTF World Poomsae Championships in Cairo Egypt.

Junior maleChristopher Tran (Anaheim, Calif.) made the final round and finished in 8th place, marking the best-ever finish for a U.S. competitor in the highly-contested Junior Male division. Tran was in 5th place heading into the final round with scores higher than Iran and Spain. The gold medal was won by Korea, with China taking the silver and the bronze medals going to Vietnam and France.

Junior female Shannon Chang (Dallas, Texas) made it to the semi-final round and placed 12th overall, also the highest finish for the U.S. in the Junior Female division. Korea captured the gold medal in that division as well.

David Turgeon (Amston, Conn.), competing in the 1st Master Male division also made the semi-final round and finished in 9th place, narrowly missing the final selection round. Turgeon improved on his ranking from last year despite the division increasing in size, and his 9th place was another best-ever finish for the U.S. in that division. The gold medal went to Korea, the silver medal to Denmark, and the bronze medals to Turkey and Italy.